350Butcher

Agreed! That's definitely not what you want to see, especially given how little work they've done. However.......Do get in touch with the manufacturer though as I've never read a bad word on their after sales and I'm sure they'll get the issue sorted with as little agro as possible for you. (Given its all got to come off and you're in Croatia that is a lot of agro though!)

Was a pleasure helping out mate! No more knocking....no more judder! Good work

You neither did a 000's of miles in one trip nor worked on it then.........or went out in the rain

Your silver Nismo is stunning, I think your Z is the only car on the forum I’d sell mine for.........in every pic posted it looks so good, so motorsport!

Mahle are the best pistons (and ring sets) in the world and are available off the shelf in low comp for an F.I DE engine build. Either CP or JE after that.........would avoid everything else. Carrillo for top end rods but are pricey and to be honest most forged rods are suitable to high HP builds. ACL race series bearing sets and ARP head and main stud kits for DE...........crank is fine but as you have said get it all balanced as an assembly inc flywheel/clutch cover and install a ATI damper and you've got yourself a very solid and bomb proof bottom end which will last years and years of abuse

I'll probably leave factory 7500k rev limiter in place for reliability but if power is still building then I'll let it run 8k.......beyond that I think I'd be asking for trouble!

Didn't realise you were on 20's......could ditch a load of unsprung weight as well as give yourself a better choice of rubber moving to 18/19 as you say.......if those sort of gains are of interest to you, I know its not everyone's main goal and aesthetics play a big part. Sponsorship must make your decision easier so fair enough!................Not tempted to run the r888r then? Especially if they're coming cheap

Seriously good results Rob!! Over 10% increase n/a tuning is great work and as you've said the numbers alone don't do the driving experience justice. Looking forward to following what's next!

Sadly not!!.............Can't wait to get back in the Z and get on track in March/early April again to stretch its legs Thanks! Without taking any increase in efficiency into account then just the increase to 3.7ltr should make it 362hp (@98hp/ltr)............the higher compression ratio should net gains across the whole rev range though so I'm hoping closer to 370hp is achievable.

Yes mate.......can have a proper look around it......haven't forgotten I promised you a run out in it when the salts gone either!!

Cheers! Appreciate it!

Not much to update here but block, crank, pistons and rods are all down at the machine shop to get all that side of the job done and then assembly can start! The second engine was meant to make the build more relaxed but I can't wait to get it all back already!! I now have all the big and costly parts for this build, its just gaskets etc that'll be required to finish it which is good! While at the machine shop I did get a chance to take a look at the new clutch..........clutches shouldn't be so good looking!!! and the Ati damper And lastly am doing a little bit of shopping for some tools to make the assembly better and more easy...........so picked up a Wiseco 96mm tapered piston ring compressor sleeve which will enable the pistons to just push straight down into the bores nicely

With such a good chassis set up I think you should try a much better tyre than the Toyo T1...........they are definitely the weakest link for your car and the most important

Vx220 is a great car, you need to get in there sooner than later as prices are on the up! Pic up a nice Vxr or Turbo model and it'll make you money while you enjoy it. We've had Vxr220 #10 "the grey one" in the family for 12 years and it's a pocket rocket, charge cooled 300Hp, no pas, no tc, even turned the abs off so driving is so raw..........stepping back into the Z after feels like driving a bus!

Happy to have helped in any way! Great write up of a job well done. Look forward to joining you on track in a couple of months where you can let it rip and enjoy the gains of your labour!!!

I know the stuff, think that does stay flexible and soft so as you say you could remove if necessary. I’ll have a look into that. Wiring up the ones I’m looking at only require permanent live, switch live, ground and a dimmer which I can take off the back of the head unit so easy enough........even for my basic wiring skills!! Thanks for info

Cheers.........they do look right from in the car but I won’t be covering £400+ worth of gauges in glue!! But good to know the 52mm gauges slot in so good to factory pod.

Am looking to install replacement gauges to the center triple pod of my Z and looking around there are varying ways people have gone about it but yours are exactly how I'd like to do it........very factory looking, tucked in behind the factory silver binnacles etc very nice! Any pics of the install and how you secured them etc? I assume they are 52mm gauges? Wiring straight off the stereo harness?

Agreed......Nismo pump is 3x the price and uses inferior internals from the homework I did.

Good to hear you're enjoying the Intrax suspension! Car's looking stunning after the detail.........I do really like the orange HR's!

Cheers! Think the stock oil pump is fine up to factory rev limit but I didn't want to take any chances so I installed a set of chromoly billet oil pump gears from Boundary Pumps when I carried out the engine work start of last year, I'll carry them over with the new engine build as they are good to 9000rpm so I wont be troubling that any time Link: http://www.boundarypumps.com/nissan/nissan-oil-pump-gears

How much track experience do you have already? If you can hold a good yet safe pace, familiar and comfortable with track driving then just treat it like every other new track and as others have said be sensible, give yourself a bit of time and most of all enjoy it and get the most of your time on track as it is such an amazing track and place to visit. Totally unique and a must box to tick if you're into cars and driving them! My opinion is that the biggest difference with the 'Ring vs almost every other track is that driving overly slow and cautious is as dangerous as trying to push on and set your own lap record as a lot of the people who drive it do know it very well with cars built to do it and are on a very quick pace, meaning closing speeds can be huge and people aren't thinking about taking it easy over that flat out blind crest in case there's someone learning the track over it! With no briefing before tourist sessions and no rules to speak of with regards to overtaking etc it can be a bit over whelming. Also, bit obvious but make sure you're on good tyres and you've got plenty of meat left on your brake pads Not trying to scare just giving an honest account............enjoy it because it IS epic!

The ART pipes do give a very nice tuned tone without sounding nasty and overly loud.......system will obviously play its part but cats/decats make a big difference Don't be too fooled by the "after" idle, the intake and exhaust make themselves known when it's opened up........bear in mind this is with baffles installed to keep below 98dB........its 102dB without baffles (hope this link works!) https://www.flickr.com/photos/167602387@N08/31801860687/in/shares-83a4go/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/167602387@N08/46018794414/in/shares-83a4go/

I ran ART pipes on my DE and HR 350z's mated to XYZ y pipe and Tanabe Medalion Touring system and can assure you there is no drone from them or nasty rasp. As far as dB all I can add is I needed no additional silencing at Donington track days so its under 98dB. The start of this sound clip was with the above setup

So happy to have this in the diary to look forward to in 2019..................be so good to do some flying laps on the king of all race tracks again!! Last time there was in 2016 when this car was very standard by comparison to where it is now so should be a different experience this time out.........please be dry and sunny!